- Log In/Sign Up
- E-ISSN2233-5382
- KCI
E-ISSN : 2233-5382
Angular or Rounded? The Influence of Social Exclusion on Consumers’ Shape Preference
WU, Shali
Abstract
Purpose: Studies on social exclusion from a sensory perspective are rather limited in state-of-the-art literature, especially in exploring the relationship between social exclusion and shape preference from a sensory marketing perspective. The present study aims to explore the effect of social exclusion on consumers' shape preference (angular vs. rounded) and the underlying mechanism. Research design, data and methodology: The relationship between social exclusion and consumers' shape preference was investigated in Study 1 using a one-way between-subject design (being excluded vs. being included), and the mediation effect of sense of control has been examined in Study 2 via a between-subjects design (being excluded vs. being included) ×2 (angular vs. rounded). Both studies were conducted on the Credamo data platform in China, and evaluated by one-way ANOVA. Results: The results showed socially excluded consumers prefer the product with angular design rather than socially included consumers, and this effect can be mediated by sense of control. Conclusions: This paper contributes academically for investigating the research area of the sense of control and explores the influence of the control needs of humans on consumer behaviors. Furthermore, it also clarifies new potential psychological role of shape preference - the recovery of the sense of control - to enrich the psychological mechanisms of shape preference.
- keywords
- Social Exclusion, Sensory Marketing, Sense of Control, Shape Preference
Reference
Alloy, L. B., Clements, C. M., & Koenig, L. J. (1993). Perceptions of control: determinants and mechanisms. Control Motivation and Social Cognition, Springer New York.
Aydin, N., Fischer, P., & Frey, D. (2010). Turning to god in the face of ostracism: Effects of social exclusion on religiousness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(6), 742-753.
Aronoff, J., Woike, B. A., & Hyman, L. M. (1992). Which are the stimuli in facial displays of anger and happiness? Configurational bases of emotion recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(6), 1050-1066.
Becker, L., van Rompay, T. J. L., Schifferstein, H. N. J., &Galetzka, M. (2011). Tough package, strong taste: The influence of packaging design on taste impressions and product evaluations. Food Quality and Preference, 22(1), 17-23.
Bar, M., & Neta, M. (2007). Visual elements of subjective preference modulate amygdala activation. Neuropsychologia, 45(10), 2191–2200.
Bertamini, M., Palumbo, L., Gheorghes, T., & Galatsidas, M. (2016). Do observers like curvature or do they dislike angularity? British Journal of Psychology, 107(1), 154-178
Bloch, P. H., Brunel, F. F., & Arnold, T. J. (2003). Individual differences in the centrality of visual product aesthetics:Concept and measurement. Journal of Consumer Research, 29(4), 551–565.
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Berntson, G. G., Ernst, J. M., Gibbs, A. C., Stickgold, R., & Hobson, J. A. (2002). Do lonely days invade the nights? Potential social modulation of sleep efficiency. Psychological science, 13(4), 384-387.
Campbell, W. K., Baumeister, R. F., Dhavale, D., & Tice, D. M. (2003). Responding to major threats to self-esteem: A preliminary, narrative study of ego-shock. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22(1), 79-96.
Chaxel, A. S. (2016). Why, when, and how personal control impacts information processing: A framework. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(1), 179-197.
Chen, C. Y., L. Lee, A. J. Yap. 2017. Control deprivation motivates acquisition of utilitarian products. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(6),1031-1047.
Chen, R. P., Wan, E. W., & Levy, E. (2017). The effect of social exclusion on consumer preference for anthropomorphized brands. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), 23-34.
Cutright, K. M. (2012). The beauty of boundaries: When and why we seek structure in consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(5), 775-790.
Cutright, K. M., & Samper, A. (2014). Doing it the hard way: How low control drives preferences for high-effort products and services. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 730-745.
Ding, Y., Pang, J., & Wang, Y. (2019). The shape-gender implicit association and its impact on consumer preference for product shapes. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 51(2), 216.
Dodds, W. B., Monroe, K. B., & Grewal, D. (1991). Effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers’ product evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(3), 307-319.
Fast, N., Gruenfeld, D., Sivanathan, N., & Galinsky, A. (2009). Illusory control: A generative force behind power's farreaching effects. Psychological Science, 20(4), 502-508.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
Jiang, Y., Gorn, G. J., Galli, M., & Chattopadhyay, A. (2016). Does your company have the right logo? How and why circularand angular-logo shapes influence brand attribute judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(5), 709-726.
Hoegg, J., Alba, J. W., & Dahl, D. W. (2010). The good, the bad and the ugly: influence of aesthetics on product feature judgments. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20(4), 419-430.
Lakin, J., Chartrand, T., & Arkin, R. (2008). I am too just like you:Nonconscious mimicry as an automatic behavioral response to social exclusion. Psychological Science, 19(8), 816-822.
Lea, S. E., & Webley, P. (2006). Money as tool, money as drug:The biological psychology of a strong incentive. Behavioral and brain sciences, 29(2), 161-209.
Leary, M. R. (1990). Responses to social exclusion: Social anxiety, jealousy, loneliness, depression, and low self-esteem. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9(2), 221-229.
Lee, J., & Shrum, L. J. (2012). Conspicuous consumption versus charitable behavior in response to social exclusion: A differential needs explanation. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(3), 530-544.
Liu, S. Q., Bogicevic, V., & Mattila, A. S. (2018). Circular vs. angular service scape: “Shaping” customer response to a fast service encounter pace. Journal of Business Research, 89, 47-56
Lu, F. C., & Sinha, J. (2017). Speaking to the heart: Social exclusion and reliance on feelings versus reasons in persuasion. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(4), 409-421.
Mandel, N., Rucker, D. D., Levav, J., & Galinsky, A. D. (2017). The compensatory consumer behavior model: How selfdiscrepancies drive consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), 133-146.
Maner, J. K., DeWall, C. N., Baumeister, R. F., & Schaller, M. (2007). Does social exclusion motivate interpersonal reconnection? Resolving the “porcupine problem”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 42-55.
Mead, N. L., Baumeister, R. F., Stillman, T. F., Rawn, C. D., &Vohs, K. D. (2011). Social exclusion causes people to spend and consume strategically in the service of affiliation. Journal of Consumer Research, 37, 902-919.
Michinov, N. (2005). Social comparison, perceived control, and occupational burnout. Applied Psychology, 54(1), 99-118.
Murphy, M. C., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindsets shape consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26(1), 127-136.
Molden, D. C., Lucas, G. M., Gardner, W. L., Dean, K., &Knowles, M. L. (2009). Motivations for prevention or promotion following social exclusion: Being rejected versus being ignored. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(2), 415-431.
Nezlek, J. B., Wesselmann, E. D., Wheeler, L., & Williams, K. D. (2015). Ostracism in everyday life: The effects of ostracism on those who ostracize. Journal of Social Psychology, 155(5), 432-451.
O’Reilly, J., Robinson, S. L., Berdahl, J. L., & Banki, S. (2015). Is negative attention better than no attention? The comparative effects of ostracism and harassment at work. Organization Science, 26(3), 774-793.
Patrick, V. M., & Hagtvedt, H. (2011). Aesthetic incongruity resolution. Journal of Marketing Research, 48(2), 393-402.
Pieters, R. (2013). Bidirectional dynamics of materialism and loneliness: Not just a vicious cycle. Journal of consumer research, 40(4), 615-631.
Richman, S. B., Slotter, E. B., Gardner, W. L., & DeWall, C. N. (2015). Reaching out by changing what's within: Social exclusion increases self-concept malleability. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 57, 64-77.
Rucker, D. D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Desire to acquire:Powerlessness and compensatory consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(2), 257-267.
Silvia, P. J., & Barona, C. M. (2009). Do people prefer curved objects? Angularity, expertise, and aesthetic preference. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 27(1), 25-42.
Stroud, L. R., Tanofsky–Kraff, M., Wilfley, D. E., & Salovey, P. (2000). The Yale Interpersonal Stressor (YIPS): Affective, physiological, and behavioral responses to a novel interpersonal rejection paradigm. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 204-213.
Tai, K., Zheng, X., & Narayanan, J. (2011). Touching a teddy bear mitigates negative effects of social exclusion to increase prosocial behavior. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 618-626.
Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Ti Ce, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001). If you can’t join them, beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1058-1069.
Vanbergen, N., & Laran, J. (2016). Loss of control and selfregulation:The role of childhood lessons. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(4), 534-548.
Vallen, B., Sridhar, K., Block, L. G., Rubin, D., Ilyuk, V., & Argo, J. J. (2019). Shape- and trait-congruency: Using appearancebased cues as a basis for product recommendations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 29(2), 271-284.
Wan, E. W., Xu, J., & Ding, Y. (2014). To be or not to be unique? The effect of social exclusion on consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(6), 1109-1122.
Ward, M. K., & Dahl, D. W. (2014). Should the devil sell Prada? Retail rejection increases aspiring consumers’desire for the brand. Journal of consumer research, 41(3), 590-609.
Westerman, S. J., Gardner, P. H., Sutherland, E. J., White, T., Jordan, K., Watts, D., & Wells, S. (2012). Product design:Preference for rounded versus angular design elements. Psychology & Marketing, 29(8), 595-605.
Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K. T., & Choi, W. (2000). Cyberostracism: Effects of being ignored over the internet. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 748-762.
Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 425-452.
Williams, K. D., & Nida, S. A. (2011). Ostracism: Consequences and coping. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(2), 71-75.
Zhang, Y., Feick, L., & Price, L. J. (2006). The impact of selfconstrual on aesthetic preference for angular versus rounded shapes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(6), 794-805.
Zhu, R. J., & Argo, J. J. (2013). Exploring the impact of various shaped seating arrangements on persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research, 40(2), 336-349.
- Downloaded
- Viewed
- 0KCI Citations
- 0WOS Citations